In commercial chlor-alkali cells used for the production of chlorine, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide from brine, asbestos diaphragms are ordinarily used to separate the anolyte and catholyte compartments. Diaphragms of this sort are generally satisfactory, but their electrical resistance is high and cells which use such diaphragms therefore require more electric current for operation than is desirable. Furthermore, asbestos diaphragms treated with certain ion-exchange resins are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,721 -- Darlington and Foster (1974), incorporated herein by reference.